{"id":17405,"date":"2026-09-03T13:37:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T05:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17405"},"modified":"2026-09-03T13:37:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T05:37:26","slug":"doj-says-states-have-to-report-undocumented-immigrants-to-get-federal-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17405","title":{"rendered":"DOJ says states have to report undocumented immigrants to get federal funding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"524\" src=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17406\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1-3.jpg 768w, https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1-3-300x205.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Department of Justice building in 2025. (Michael M. Santiago \/ Getty Images file)\u00a9\u00a0Michael M. Santiago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Justice Department issued a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/justice-department-clarifies-duty-states-report-known-illegal-aliens-under-welfare-reform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new legal interpretation on Wednesday<\/a>&nbsp;in an attempt to push every state in the country to report undocumented immigrants living in their communities and advance President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The department\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/doj\/office-legal-counsel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">which advises the Attorney General<\/a>, said that when states accept federal funds to assist low-income families \u2014 through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Supplemental Security Income programs \u2014 they\u2019re obligated to report anyone who\u2019s not lawfully present in the U.S. to the Department of Homeland Security, according to its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/olc\/media\/1459981\/dl?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new legal opinion<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reporting requirement would extend to the entire state government, not just the agencies administering TANF and SSI benefits, according to the opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every state in the country receives federal funding to provide financial assistance through both programs \u2014 which are among the nation\u2019s largest safety net programs for low-income families, elderly residents and disabled people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Office of Legal Counsel said it reinterpreted a Clinton-era opinion from 1998 that required only the specific state agencies tasked with overseeing TANF or SSI programs to share information federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cStates will not face retroactive penalties for past reliance on the 1998 interpretation,\u201d the DOJ said in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/justice-department-clarifies-duty-states-report-known-illegal-aliens-under-welfare-reform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a news release<\/a>&nbsp;Wednesday, but it expects states to abide by the new opinion in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s likely that certain states, especially those that are led by Democrats, will challenge the new legal interpretation in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ago.vermont.gov\/blog\/2025\/01\/23\/joint-statement-attorney-general-clark-and-twelve-other-state-attorneys-general-state-and-local-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">State attorney generals<\/a>\u00a0in several states have already pushed back on prior attempts from the Trump administration to force local agencies to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.migrationpolicy.org\/journal\/policy-beat\/escalation-ice-operations-emboldens-state-and-local-lawmakers-constrain-its\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">share information regarding immigration status<\/a>\u00a0with the federal government alongside other immigration enforcement efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Justice Department issued a&nbsp;new legal interpretation on Wednesday&nbsp;in an attempt to push every state in the country to report undocumented immigrants living in their communities and advance President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation plan. The department\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel,&nbsp;which advises the Attorney General, said that when states accept federal funds to assist low-income families [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":17406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2324,1687,4366],"class_list":["post-17405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa","tag-immigrants","tag-report","tag-undocumented"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>DOJ says states have to report undocumented immigrants to get federal funding - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=17405\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOJ says states have to report undocumented immigrants to get federal funding - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Justice Department issued a&nbsp;new legal interpretation on Wednesday&nbsp;in an attempt to push every state in the country to report undocumented immigrants living in their communities and advance President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation plan. 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